What started off by being a birding trip to North Wales on Saturday night, quickly turned into something entirely different on Sunday morning? The reason, a first winter female Snowy Owl had been found in north Norfolk during the week and on Saturday had been seen in the Titchwell area, albeit a little distantly. The bird must have been blown to our shores, in front of the Beast from the East. Well our plans changed and with Kev C driving a full team left Rochdale around 7am. The weather was quite misty all the way there via M62, A1 and the legendary A17. The weather improved around the Kings Lynn area, but no news of the owl though. We had a look around the Dersingham bog area, but not many birds were stirring, so we headed off to RSPB Titchwell to see what we could find there.

Now a text from a birding friend of mine soon changed our plans, it read Snowy Owl has been found at RSPB Snettisham. We were only 5 miles away, how often does that happen? We arrived at the car park at Sheringham, managed to park, grab our gear and set off following other birders. Myself and Steve B decided to take a little more time to walk the 2 miles to see the bird as the other lads walked at twitch speed. Upon arrival a line of around 50 birders, all stood on the boardwalk behind the hide, were watching the Snowy Owl. We managed to get in the line and watched the bird at around 80 yards distance. It was sat in the grass, possibly on prey, moving its head around, occasionally yawning and stretching its body occasionally, what a bird! We admired the bird for about an hour, Bob K wanted to stay until it flew (which would have been about 5 hours later) but the long walk back to the car had to be done as the weather looked like rain. Also at Snettisham: - Avocet, Skylark, Ringed Plover and a couple of Grey Partridge (expertly found by Steve B)

Back to our original plan of visiting Titchwell, the weather was not so good so a spirited walk around one of my favourite reserves. Only a few Sanderling on the sea shore, but around 20 Mediterranean Gulls in the Black Headed Gull colony was very nice along with a hunting Barn Owl. Then as we were about to leave, a well-marked male Brambling had been found by Dave W on the bird feeders, ta for that Dave. We headed for home when another Barn Owl was seen by the A17 as the weather closed in reaching Rochdale by 8pm, quite a day.

An afternoon dash down to RSPB Snettisham yesterday where the 1st winter female Snowy Owl showed really well on a post and then great views as it flew around before landing again. 2 Barn Owls also came out and at one point, the Snowy and a Barn Owl were in the same view with the Snowy looking huge in comparison. Who knows where it or if it get reported next!

A bird I've always wanted to see, the "Beast from the East" can be forgiven as we headed back home very happy.

Choseley Barns: Early afternoon visit; just missed 2 Turtle Doves (no Partridges in Pear trees either) but 2 Red Kites, 2 Common Buzzards and a male Marsh Harrier in the air together. The small seed-eating birds had all been flushed with the Turtle Doves, but we managed a Lesser Whitethroat skulking as usual in nearby hedges.Late afternoon visit; a quartette of Columbiformes with single Turtle and Collared Doves, 2 Stock Doves and 5 Wood Pigeons feeding on the spilled grain. Yellowhammer and Linnet also.

Spent a few days camping out by Kelling Heath. The weather was sweltering but the nights cold. I had targets including Nightjar and research paid off on the first night when I had views of several - no displaying but still a lifer. I thought by the churring I could hear (even from my tent) that this is one of the foremost sites in the country for the species. I didn't manage Dartford Warbler or Woodlark, although this was the right area and I had seen them in Berkshire.

Nightingale was another target and although a birder I met realigned my information on good sites (this year) I never made it over and it was logistically a snag - I will try Paxton Pits next spring.

A Turtle Dove had been seen in the vicinity that same evening, which was inspiring but galling as I need to see one.

Then it was off to Titchwell, one of the country's renowned RSPB sites - I had Marsh Harriers, Cuckoo, several Cetti's Warblers and a lot of Avocet but I didn't see the reported Red Kite/flyover Spoonbill and the Turtle Dove that had been around recently had found pastures new.

I will be back for sure it's a lovely part of the world, all achieved on public transport (I managed 90 per cent of the coasthopper route as I came back via King's Lynn) so next time it could be Snettisham etc

Yesterday mid morning while driving east on the coast road just before Blakeney:Male Hen Harrier hunting the field below the road; and therfore seen from above.A scarce bird in these parts despite the winter roost near Wells.

On our final morning of the trip we headed out to Halvergate Marshes in the hope of locating a Cattle Egret. Many white blobs were scrutinized but none of the animate ones proved to be the bird for which we were looking. We did add a fairly distant Peregrine to our trip list but the highlight was a hunting Barn Owl which then perched at very close quarters. The only wild one most of us have seen closer was the one which almost flew into the Fen Hide at Titchwell last year! Some excellent photos were obtained. We headed over to Buckenham (where the light was again against us) and Cantley (where the birds were distant) before giving up on the Bean Geese.

The weather at Lynford Arboretum was better today but initially we only had one brief view of a Hawfinch. The feeding station at the bridge had a Marsh Tit as well as the commoner species, along with most of the other 'usual suspects'. News that the Hawfinches gather in the paddock pre-roost led us to return to the industrial estate in Thetford for a bit more 'gulling' to fill in the time. We found at least three Yellow-legged Gulls among the flock and a different Iceland Gull to the one we saw on Friday, but we were less sure about the immature Caspian Gull claimed by one of the other watchers.(Subsequently confirmed by Ian from photos taken by Riggers). We returned to Lynford just before a Glaucous Gull arrived, apparently, but after our very close encounter with one on Sunday it wasn't too great a loss. A minimum of 21 Hawfinches were around the very misty paddock when we got back to Lynford, with quite a bit of movement making an accurate count impossible. As the mist rose and the light faded we headed home with a reasonable tally of 121 species seen and 3 more heard.

Despite the unfavorable weather forecast and recent coastal flooding we had a pretty good day out along the North Norfolk Coast today. We called in at Ludham for a more prolonged look at the swans and confirmed Whoopers as well as the Bewick's we'd seen yesterday. The Black Redstart at Sherringham proved elusive (unsurprisingly) and the coast road from Kelling to Cley was closed but there was access from the heath to Salthouse so we popped down to see how things were and were rewarded with 3 Bearded Tits in what is normally the roadside vegetation. A flock of about 100 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were here as well swimming on the fields opposite the pub.

After a quick look at the state of things at Cley we headed to Brancaster. En route Riggers nearly acquired a new radiator badge as we almost ran over an adult Glaucous Gull feeding on a Pheasant carcass on the road just beyond Stiffkey Fen by the pools in the large bend of the road. It really didn't want to give up its' prize and only took wing at the last possible moment! Our luck continued at Holkham when the decision to scope the marsh from safe vantage points along the road added Great White Egret to the list without having to trek to the hide and back. At Brancaster we failed to locate the flock of Shorelark there, as did other birders. Greenshank, Little Grebe and a selection of commoner waders were added to the trip list before we headed on to Thornham where 30 Twite were a 'from the car' tick. The Ferruginous Duck at Holme was asleep on the far bank of Broad Water, but raised its' head from time to time for a quick preen. 23 Red- legged Partridge were almost the only birds present at Chosely Barns with the smaller stuff mostly out of sight in the set-aside, so after a quick lunch we headed on to Titchwell. A Brambling was under the feeders on the reserve side of reception, with a Water Rail showing briefly but well in the ditch beyond, as did a Chiffchaff. A large but compact flock of Scoter well out from the beach would have been a tricky scoping job in the prevailing conditions but luckily a couple of Common Scoter and one of their Velvet cousins were close in shore along with Goldeneye and 6 Long-tailed Duck. The water levels were high on both marshes, leading to quite low numbers of birds being present, but we found Black-tailed Godwit, Knot and 3 pairs of Pintail. A second Chiffchaff foraging on reed matting was much greyer than the first bird we saw but couldn't be satisfactorily assigned to the tristis sub-species. Fortified by hot beverages and cakes we headed to Fen Hide to watch the harriers coming in to roost. No Bittern this trip but very good prolonged views of a Cetti's Warbler working along the base of the reeds was a reasonable finish to the day

A bright if cold morning, so we made another visit to Cantley/Buckenham but unfortunately the few geese out on the marshes were distant and against the sun so we headed on to Great Yarmouth.Three Mediterranean Gulls were enticed by the usual bread-chucking ritual, along with larger numbers of Black-headed Gulls, several Herring gulls and at least one Common Gull. It was noticeable that the Black-headed Gulls were by far the boldest, with the larger gulls reluctant to come in at first.

After a foray into Suffolk we headed back to Filby Broad, where the assortment of waterfowl included a distant red-head Smew. A Kingfisher made a couple of appearances and we were joined briefly by Mike Passant and his friends from the North-East. En route we had a tickable fly-over ring-tail Hen Harrier and a collection of untickable Storks, Cranes Egrets and geese, as there's a small Wildlife Centre to the South-East of the village! Mike P and co gave us directions to a nearby Hooded Crow at a pig farm, after which we popped back to Acle Bridge in the hope of seeing the 2 Common Cranes reported there. No luck with that so we paid a quick visit to the rather scattered herd of wintering Swans at Ludham before heading on to Stubb Mill. We were lucky with the weather, as a heavy winter shower passed to the north of us over Horsey Mill, but the conditions seem to have reduced activity there today, with lower numbers and variety of raptors than usual, although we saw more male Marsh Harriers than in recent years. A pair of Cranes danced in the usual area and two Barn Owls were hunting and scrapping in the area as well. The bonus bird for this year was a distant fly past from a Spoonbill! A Tawny Owl was calling as we left, with Venus and Mars showing in a clear winter sky.

Riggers, John R, Karen and I managed to time our arrival at Lynford Arboretum with that of the eastward-moving snow so our annual East Anglian winter weekend got off to a low key start with a handful common species.

A swift retreat to Thetford got us good views of the 1st winter Iceland Gull in the local industrial estate, along with juvenile and adult Yellow-legged Gulls, but no signs of the Glaucous Gull reported earlier in the morning.

After lunch we headed down to Cantley, where the weather proved too inclement for a sustained scan of the marshes. Five White-fronted Geese and two of the Egyptian variety were the only medium-sized wildfowl venturing out of the ditches. There were many more geese at Buckenham, with two white birds among the many Pink-feet, c.25 more White-fronts and some distant Canadas. Plenty of Wigeon and Lapwing, several Dunlin, Golden Plover, Ruff and a Redshank made up the wader count with several thousand Rook and Jackdaws in a pre-roost gathering providing an impressive end to the day.

just returned from a fortnights holiday on the North Norfolk coast. Based at East Runton my wife and I walked the coastal pathfrom Titchwell to Cromer approx. 40 miles. This was done in stages by courtesy of the Coasthopper bus and our bus passes.Birding is not always expensive Rob .These are the better birds of the 99 seen The rest are just the usuals.Common BuzzardMarsh HarrierGreat WhiteEgretOystercatcherRinged PloverGreyPloverGannetTurnstoneArctic SkuaLittle EgretCurlewRedKiteKestrelGreenshankShelduckSpotted RedshankPink Footed GooseBearded ReedlingTealBarTailed GodwitCommon Gull Common SnipeBalearic Shearwater (lifer)Red Throated DiverShovelerCettis WarblerNuthatchPectoral SandpiperBlack Tailed GodwitWhite Fronted GooseEgyptian GooseGreyPartridgeDunlinSpoonbillBarnacle GooseGarganyWigeonRookPomarine SkuaSooty ShearwaterPeregrine FalconCommon ScoterWheatearCorn BuntingRuffSanderlingLittle StintYellow Browed Warbler

Spurn looked a no show for anything of interest so I decided that 3 and half hours to RSPB Titchwell from Strines Moor was just too tempting seeing as though the Great Knot had turned up again.

- Great Knot 1 (Lifer)What a cracking Wader this was, almost Turnstone like in this plumage, stood out from the masses of Red Knot, and a Turnstone actually turned up and was feeding next to it momentarily. Showed well from Fresh Marsh and the beach albeit a bit distant but a brilliant bird.- Red Knot few 1000, some in ad sum plum- Spotted Redshank 4, 2 sum plum- Redshank- Bar-tailed Godwit 20+ incl sum plum- Black-tailed Godwits- Avocet- Oystercatcher - Lapwing- Ruff 2 cracking breeding plum on Fresh Marsh- Sanderling 2 on beach- Spoonbill 1 - Little Egret - Mediterranean Gull 8 (more reported)- Little Gull 4 showing well- Common Gull - Little Tern 15+ fishing just off the beach, 2 over the marsh- Common Tern- Sandwich Tern 1- Marsh Harrier 1 put everything up- Cetti's Warbler 1 possibly 2, seen on and off, singing all day- Whitethroat 1- Reed Warbler seen up close showing well- Stonechat 1- Reed Bunting- Yellowhammer - Bullfinch- Shoveler, Gadwall and lots of Wildfowl around- Swifts and Hirundines about- Lots of usuals around so just listed birds of note, and picked the best of the shots of the stand out species. My 1st time here and certainly not my last, what a great place, so much so I ended up staying until gone 7pm and it was worth getting home at 11pm.

I decided to leave my last report until this morning because of an interesting experience at titchwell and I wanted to synchronise my experience with flickr.

. But first, on the 4th Wednesday, we went to kelling where we found Dartford warbler and a nightingale in the area. It was a much quieter day then previously. Now on Thursday, at titchwell marsh we had 5 cranes that were found flying high up, Shortly after, near the meadow trail, a Cettis warbler perched out in full view and started to enjoy sitting in the sunshine for a whole 2 minutes, giving me an opportunity to get reasonable pictures of it from which I'm most proud of. Sea watching produced (worthy to note) sandwich tern, little tern, 4 common scoter, grey plover, bar tailed godwit, whimbrel and knot. 60 species were clocked on that day.

The whole holiday has been fantastic. 131 species in just 10 days. My top 10 moments are as follows.......

1. Wryneck at Cley on Apr 26th2. Woodlark at Dersingham on Apr 27th3. Whinchat at Cley on May 1st4. Sanderling at titchwell on Apr 29th5. Turtle dove at Holme on May 3rd6. Ring ouzel at Holme on May 2nd7. Black headed wagtail at titchwell on May 2nd8. Cettis warbler at titchwell on May 5th9. Ruff at Cley on May 1st10. Red crested pochard at titchwell on Apr 29th

My favourite trip has to had gone to Titchwell marsh on Apr 29th, I had forgotten to write in Artic tern, which brings the total species to 74 for that trip.

Many thanks for reading. ....

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I heard a lot of chatter coming from my garden today and discovered it was a Sparrowtalk. .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06

Yesterday, we had fantastic views of 2 ring ouzels at Holme Dunes, with 1 male yellow wagtail that flew past. Then, we headed up towards Titchwell for the dotterels within the area, where we also got corn bunting and yellowhammer. The dotterels were very distant, nothing of the likes that ive experienced in Lancashire a few years ago where they passed within a few feet of me. The major highlight was at titchwell marsh with the Black headed wagtail! A real mega! We had wonderful views of him from the left side of the Parrinder hide on the fresh marsh. We only managed to see this with a special thanks to a group of birders from America and Canada in a minibus that we met. They very kindly dropped us of at the reserve! This is a green (public transport ) holiday and to reach 125 birds so far is fantastic.

Today has been more of a casual day, though with more then usual walking around Heacham. We finished the day with a short ride to Holme, where I managed a turtle dove and grasshopper warbler. My last report will be on Thursday....

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I heard a lot of chatter coming from my garden today and discovered it was a Sparrowtalk. .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06

An afternoon visit to Cley marshes. My favourite moment was 3 whinchats (2 male and 1 female) giving excellent views, spoonbill, Spotted redshanks, summer plumaged ruffs was fantastic to see, a greenshank, and still hanging around was a large flock of Brent geese with a few barnacle geese in with them. For only 2 1/2 hours I clocked 45 species.

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I heard a lot of chatter coming from my garden today and discovered it was a Sparrowtalk. .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06

I was amazed on the beach, how wonderful it was to be surrounded by sanderlings. I sat down not far from where they were feeding and i allowed the tide to push them in a little as they passed. However, I didn't expect them to stay put and hang around me as they then decided to walk back and forth. I loved watching them feed for ages and got to enjoy their entertaining antics at close quarters. I had to leave them when my camera card got full and my legs got numb.

Must visit here again soon, out of every visit ive had in the past, even at 1 day apart, no two days are alike .....

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I heard a lot of chatter coming from my garden today and discovered it was a Sparrowtalk. .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06

A visit to the area of Dersingham proved fruitfull. Highlights including 3 buzzards, about 5 siskins, a brief close encounter of a green woodpecker was a nice surprise. A few treecreepers were seen close through the woods too. But, the biggest highlight was a woodlark that first flew overhead and then landed in a nearby tree, giving fantastic views dispite a bitter wind. Even though it feels unseasonably cold, its a nice warm feeling when one can get great experiences out in the field.

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I heard a lot of chatter coming from my garden today and discovered it was a Sparrowtalk. .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06

A most interesting day with a Mediterranean Gull been the 1St highlight when it flew over calling at Wells-next-to-the-sea, but, unfortunately I'm now forced to admit that wrynecks really do exist. At Cley, it was biting cold in the strong wind when one wryneck showed very well, he landed first on the left of the garden before moving right, when a 2nd bird popped out on the left, at first I thought he had moved but both were briefly clear in my view at the same time (but not together) from where I was stood. I'm now over the moon with this.

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I heard a lot of chatter coming from my garden today and discovered it was a Sparrowtalk. .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06

A couple of weeks ago I visited Norfolk to boost the year list. Golden Pheasant finally seen at Wolferton after many many visits. Twite at Thornham were nice to see too.I managed to take a visit to Abbey Farm, Flitcham for the Pallid Harrier that has been around for some time. I had a little wait before it showed itself. Rising up from the stubble field before disappearing again. Then it proceeded to put on a great show as it took to the air for a good 15 minutes before being lost to view.

The day, like the weather, improved as it wore on. The rain had cleared, as forecast, by the time we reached Flitcham at about 8.10 a.m. but the morning remained overcast. There were plenty of raptors present, with Barn Owl, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, 2 Common Buzzard and ring-tailed Hen Harrier all making appearances, but no sign of the Pallid Harrier while we were there (it showed twice in the afternoon). We moved on to a very windy and almost bird less Chosely Barns before finally making a decent connection with the local bird life at Thornham Harbour, with another Barn Owl, 26 Twite and 3 Rock Pipits.

After lunch we headed to Titchwell where, among the regulars, there were both species of Godwit, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Grey, Golden and Ringed Plover, Pintail, Knot and 2 Twite on the reserve. A flock of about 25 Common Scoter and several Red-breasted Merganser where off the beach and 2 Water Pipits were with several Rock Pipits on the drained pool west of the Public Footpath. No sign of any Bittern from the Fen Hide, but there were 2 Cetti's Warblers singing, and a ring-tailed Hen Harrier in the roost with at least 8 Marsh Harriers. Highlights from here were yet another Barn Owl and a female Kingfisher, both of which came within a few feet of the hide. The Kingfisher worked the pool very well, with one fish being about a third of her body length. A very pleasant end to the day, which ended for Mr. Potter with views of male Golden Pheasant at Wolferton down to 15 feet.

Joined last night by Matt Potter, for a day of better weather, which began and ended well, but dipped a bit in the middle.

A total of seven Mediterranean Gulls were found along the seafront at Great Yarmouth, with a surprise appearance of a Woodcock, which flew down one of the paths to the beach before turning back and heading off inland. No sign of yesterday's Snow Buntings though.After visiting Lowestoft for Purple Sandpiper we headed back to Great Yarmouth but failed to find the Glaucous Gull reported at the north end of the town.Luddon Airfield had it's usual flock of Bewick and Whooper Swans, c110 of the former and c40 of the latter. From here we headed to Stubbs Mill and arrived it time for a nice fly past from the Common Cranes as 17 flew east to west in parties of 3 and 4. A pair were also in a regular spot to the east of the viewing platform and remained more or less in view until dusk, feeding, occasionally calling and displaying briefly. A ring-tailed Hen Harrier gave good views as it hunted west to east, but was the only sighting of the afternoon until we left, C45 Marsh Harriers came in to roost while we were there, a Merlin was seen briefly, and a very pale Short-eared Owl gave good views as it quartered the area. At least two Barn Owls were seen, with a bird hunting close to the viewing platform appearing darker mantled than the birds hunting further away. Woodcock over the car park and another Barn Owl in the hedge as we drove home completed the day.

-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Saturday 23rd of January 2016 08:58:35 PM

Our usual early start for Riggers, Karen F and myself, was rewarded with great views of the male Golden Pheasant at Wolferton Triangle. A morning of wet mounds and verge-crawling got rather swamped as the day progressed, so we settled for a ring-tailed Hen Harrier at Flitcham, along with a courting pair of Buzzards, resolving to return later in the weekend when the weather should be better. Things were even soggier at Downham Market but the arrival of three more birders encouraged us to have another go at finding a 'Denis Atherton' in a fairly large area of wet scrub. A combination of Karen and Riggers located the Serin, which proceeded to give cracking views as it crept through the vegetation on the side of the railway line.As the day got even wetter we gave up at Tottenhill and opted to seek sanctuary in the churchyard at Colney, where the Great White Egret was visible through the trees, before heading for the Travelodge.

A juvenile Pallid Harrier had been found near Flitcham in Norfolk in early December. What with bad weather, work etc in the way, a trip to see it was not possible until the Christmas break. We planned to go on the 27th, the day after the floods in Rochdale, but coupled with the heavy rain forecast for Norfolk, we cancelled. The bird was not seen on that day, so, a wise choice. Tuesday 29th dawned and four A Team members left Newhey with a promise of good weather and a number of species being lifers for a couple of us. A 5 o`clock departure meant we got to Norfolk by 8-25am in Steve K`s car. We entered the packed hide just as a Barn Owl and then a Woodcock flew by, then minutes later the Pallid Harrier was seen about 200 yards away eating the remains of a pigeon! A lifer for 2 of our crew, we had good views of the bird out of the hide and along the road as it hunted a large field. The weather at this point was truly good, with a blue sky and temperatures well into the teens, very unseasonal. We watched the bird for about 30 minutes on and off and decided to head along the coast to see other species. In the Choseley Barns area the hoped for Rough legged Buzzard was not seen. After watching another Barn Owl in a roadside field, news that a Rough legged Buzzard had been located at Choseley, we made our way back and were rewarded with distant, but good clinching views, were there 2 birds in the sky at once as we arrived? No news was forthcoming regarding a Red rumped Swallow in the Holkham area, so we pushed on towards Cley, where a Black Brant was in with a flock of Brent Geese. The goose was soon located, which resulted in another lifer for a team member. We admired the bird for 30 minutes or so, but could not find any other of the rarer goose species at Cley. We were well entertained by around 3 Marsh Harriers that kept putting up all the smaller birds on the marsh. We called in at Holkham on the off chance that the Red rumped Swallow had been found but alas it was not (The bird returned the day after though). A Bittern was a nice find as it flew around and again 2 Marsh Harriers lifting all the birds up in the bright sunshine. A call in at Holme Dunes to see the Shore Larks was our next stop. We were told that the birds were a mile walk away and we gave up as time and daylight were against us. We had all really enjoyed the day and headed for home around 3-30pm. The amount of birds of prey and large numbers of Pink footed Geese were really impressive. An accident on the bypass near to Sleaford, meant a half an hour`s diversion through the town centre, not ideal, but we enjoyed all the pubs and quaint buildings in this never before visited town. We reached Newhey by 7-30pm, a long but memorable day. Well done to Steve K for all his efforts behind the wheel.

Snettisham high tide roost on Sunday evening gave the spectacle of a quarter of a million waders flying around The Wash sounding like a jet aircraft at times. If you've never done this I cannot recommend the experience highly enough. Amazing! Merlin on the route back to the car park too.

First visit for me today to Norfolk. We headed to Beeston, finding the Isabelline Shrike had gone. Next up was Wells Woods. The two scarcities I got were both new lifers - red flanked bluetail and olive backed pipit, although the later wasn't easy and views brief. Any rare warblers were missed by me! Pallas's by mere inches. We picked up red kite and marsh harrier at Stiffkey, as well as a flock of Brent geese. What great birding!

Not a birding trip as such but whilst in the area visiting some friends I couldn't resist the opportunity of seeing an Isabelline Shrike that had been at Beeston Common for a week or so, And I wasn't disappointed, a very showy bird offering close views perched out in the open for long periods and taking the odd short fllight hunting Insects on the wing, just a shame I'd didn't have time to visit nearby Holkham/Wells woods

An excellent break from the rush of Manchester. With 108 species seen with still a few others that typically stayed elusive. Me and my freind spent half of our break around titchwell marsh, which involved 3 full days and two half day visits (which also included a sticky toffee pudding for each visit, yum! Now my new tradition for any future visits). Highlights including 23rd; two Hobbies in a tree, Grey plover close outside the Parrinder hide, Black tailed godwits and greenshank close to the path (closest ive ever been anyway) and a male White wagtail was also found.

On the 25th visit, i had Cettis warbler briefly within 2ft from me, a Peregrine flew over very low and later almost caught a Teal right outside the Parrinder North hide. Near dusk, a Yellow legged gull was found amonst the 1000s of gulls on the island from the same hide.

On the 29th visit, i found the first Yellow browed warbler of the season on the reserve which was a real thrill (my 1st ever one was 2 days prior near Salthouse along with a near-by Barred warbler, another 1st for me). Also to note was Red throated diver, common scoter (both fairly near out on the sea). And another 1st was a brief visit of a Temminck's stint that i almost missed due to not looking properly at the "dunlins" on my way back to the bus stop, so many thanks to the guy who told me about it.

Other highlights included A yellowhammer close near Titchwell village, At Holme Dunes was about 11 Brent geese, 8 close sandwich terns, a couple of dozen knots nearby and a common redpoll that was ringed. An evening spectacle with thousands of waders, mostly of knots and oystercatchers at Snettisham rspb along with a single tatty female Eider. This also came with an unusually very red sunset and that even caused the moon to look very red too (pictures on Flickr). At Hunstanton was very large numbers of red legged partridge (50 was counted in one field alone), much smaller numbers of grey partridge were also seen. Sadly all good things must come to an end but i guess Greater Manchester needs my eyes to find birds there. But what a wonderful visit to north Norfolk!

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I heard a lot of chatter coming from my garden today and discovered it was a Sparrowtalk. .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06

We did our annual trip into Norfolk a little bit later than usual this year, but we still saw around 100 bird species. I left home at 10-30pm Friday and got home at 10-35pm Saturday night, a full 24 hours job, it was well worth it. My turn to drive and with nearly a full "A Team," we left Newhey around 11-15pm. On the way a diversion on the A1 around Clumber Forest saw us see a couple of Barn Owl`s really close to the road, good start. We arrived at our first stop at Dersingham Bog around 2-10am and waited for Martin Q to join us from Rutland. The night was fairly still as we all descended into the bog at 2-30am and as we passed John Denver`s seat, a Nightjar and a Woodcock were heard. On the boardwalks another Nightjar was seen in our torchlight as we stumbled around, it was a male, what a splendid bird. More Woodcock along with a Grasshopper Warbler at the side of the path and then as the first vestiges of dawn appeared a singing Stonechat was heard, it had us stumped for a while did that bird! As we got back on the boardwalk a Nightjar was churring as it sat on top of a tree in full view of us all. We were all then listening to a Tawny Owl, when a Nightjar flew past us and we were treated to an amazing display by the bird as it hunted about 30yards from us for 5 minutes, great! The Golden Pheasant did not put in an appearance, though that is not unusual at the triangle. We headed off towards the Brecks and as we arrived the wind had gained in strength rendering a search for a special species quite useless. Next stop Lakenheath and at 5am as we arrived, around a dozen cars were already present. A male Little Bittern had been present for a while calling / singing trying to attract a female. After the long walk down the river, passing the wood that used to have the Golden Orioles in it, we reached the reed bed were the Little Bittern was still calling / singing. What an unusual sound, its likened to a distant barking dog. A Hobby passed over and a couple of Marsh Harriers were seen. Bearded Tit and Bittern were also seen. What a great reserve this place is. Back up towards the coast we headed for Kelling Heath, now after last year`s resounding success, surely we could not see all target species again, or could we? No, was the answer, it was sunny but very windy so no Woodlark or Turtle Dove anywhere. Now we all like to ask people if they have seen anything of interest and as luck had it, a couple told us where to look for some Dartford Warbler`s. We struggled, but we all managed to see these great little birds, eventually. A Spoonbill had been seen from the Iron Road at Salthouse, but it had gone when we got there and so had the car park that was buried under many ton`s of shingle as a result of the winter storms. We watched the sea and got a few passing terns and we would have all fallen asleep if had been allowed to! Along the East Bank at Cley some amazing plumaged Black Tailed Godwit`s were seen along with the regular breeding birds on Arnold`s Marsh. We called in at Chosely Drying Barn`s but still no Turtle Dove`s. At Titchwell we soon located 10 or so Red Crested Pochard, on a "new" lagoon to us all, but the Garganey that were present tested our skill`s. We saw what we thought was a moulting Garganey and this was later confirmed by photograph, well done Steve B. Then 2 Spoonbill flew over the lagoon, great birds to watch in flight! We said goodbye to Martin Q at Titchwell, it was nice to see him again and enjoy his birding skills. We headed towards home calling at Whisby nature reserve just west of Lincoln. It was a little late in the season for Nightingale but after about an hour one bird burst into song, got to be the nicest British songbird. We headed of home all very tired but a really good day was had with between 10 and 22 year ticks having been seen between us.Dave O.

It`s a cinch with a Citril Finch. 10/5/2015A quiet weekend doing household chores had been carefully planned, after the birding excesses of recent times. A good lie in on Sunday morning until 9am and then even before I had chance to check out the bird news a phone call from Mark K, who was birding near Sutton Bank,Thirsk. His pager broadcast the news of a male Citril Finch near Holkham Pines in Norfolk, PANIC ! Only a second for Britain. Quickly asking for time off from my understanding wife and ringing a couple of the A Team members, who could not get away, I arranged to meet the York team in Fairburn village with Nige, Paz and Mark K making up the team. We headed off to Norfolk with Nige at the helm at around 10-15am and after a few negative messages on the pager, the bird seemed to settle into a routine and was showing well as we parked on Lady Ann`s Drive at Holkham around 1-20pm. What followed was a 1 1/2 mile slog (like the walk to the Pacific Swift, though not as far) through the pines with lots of smiling birders heading in the opposite direction, all saying It`s still there. By the time we reached the sand dunes my legs were seizing up and I felt like a boil in the bag (ta Mark) after donning my big coat in good, sunny conditions! As we reached the birds chosen feeding area, the birders had it almost surrounded, with some high on the dunes and some within 25 yards of the bird.The bird was pointed out to me and our panic was over, what a cracking bird! Scope views were even better once you could get into the scrum. We all admired the second for Britain (the first had been on Fair Isle a few years ago) for a good 50 minutes and the bird suddenly flew back into the pine tree area calling as it went. Time for a social with fellow birders from near & far, all part of the scene. The bird came back about 30 minutes after we left and it was nice to see Lee Evans heading (running) towards the bird as we had a much more sedate walk back to the car, now we could smile at birders still arriving! A few Egyptian Geese were seen, along with a real Barnacle Goose at Holkham. We called in at Chosely Drying Barns to see the distant Dotterels that had gathered there and counted up to 12 or 20 depending on were you were stood! Our last stop was Titchwell RSPB Reserve, always a good place to stop at and we saw Little Stint, 3 Barnacle Geese (dark bellied form) but missed Scaup & Red Crested Pochard. Marsh Harriers doing a food pass and a booming Bittern made up for that though. Time for home after a cracking day out and all of us seeing a new bird, what could be better! Thanks to Nige for driving and the good company of the York lads. Reached my home by 10pm.Dave O.

After early morning reports of the bird and much pondering over whether to go straight away or wait, enough was enough and I decided to risk the opportunity of seeing the Citril Finch at Holkham Pines, Norfolk In what would be a mainland first and only a second for the UK.
Arriving on site around 6pm, there was just the small matter of a 30 minute walk (it seemed 30 hours under the circumstances!).
Eventually we found the area and the assembled crowd of twitchers present who's scopes were pointing towards a clearing under the pines where the bird was feeding.
A fellow birder put me onto the bird through his 'scope to get the "much needed" initial view to my relief then we were treated to excellent views as the bird continued to feed in the sand and scrub at the base of a pine.
We watched the bird for around half an hour with it's partial grey face and underparts contrasting with The yellow green plumage, the double wing bar and long tail being a feature of this bird which those present were saying was almost like a cross between a Siskin and a Greenfinch!
Eventually around 7.15 pm, the bird flew up into a nearby tree before taking flight over the pines and lost to view.
Arriving back at 2am was certainly worthwhile after seeing such an incredible sighting and many thanks to the finder!

Riggers, Karen F, John R and I met up with Matt Potter at about 9 a.m. on Friday 16th at Roydon Common for the start of our usual January long weekend. An extensive search failed to find the Great Grey Shrike, but we did connect with a single Woodlark. Plenty of Fieldfares, looking very smart on a bright winter's morning, together with Red-legged Partridge, Redwing, Stonechat and Green Woodpecker were the highlights among the common species seen here. From here we headed to Chosely Barns where root vegetables were being dispatched for cattle fodder, so not much avian activity here. A quick scan of the hedges produced a single Yellowhammer and Song Thrush, then, as we headed back to the cars the 10,000 strong flock of Pinkfeet we'd seen and scanned en route relocated to fields just to the east of the barns. A quick circuit brought us a good viewpoint to scan the flock and eventually Riggers located a juvenile Tundra Bean Goose within the flock. As we all attempted to lock on to the bird the possibility of a second juvenile was discussed, but we were never able to confirm its' presence. The flock made a spectacular departure, with the Bean Goose obvious among the first group to leave, so we headed on to Titchwell. Here we had good views of a Water Rail and 3 Bearded Tits on the drained Thornham Marsh, but just missed a Jack Snipe. A small flock of Twite were located on one of the islands in the fresh marsh, along with the more usual collection of Greylag and Brent Geese (no Black Brant ), assorted waders, gulls and seven species of ducks including a single Wigeon and some smart-looking Pintail. A watch from the Fen Hide produced 4 Marsh Harriers, a ring-tailed Hen Harrier and a Merlin but no Bittern, with 3 Woodcock emerging at the usual spot as we headed home .

Jan 17th started at Cantley on a very frozen marsh, where another large flock of Pinkfeet conveniently debunked to pastures new, leaving us with good if distant views of 32 Taiga Bean Geese on yet another crisp, sunny morning. We headed on to Great Yarmouth to continue the tradition of hurling cheap supermarket bread about the beach and attracted a mixed flock of gulls with at least 3 Adult and 3 juvenile Mediterranean Gulls among them. Our visit to Corton failed to find any Firecrests this year, so we continued to Lowestoft in the only snow we saw all weekend to add Rock Pipit and at least 5 Purple Sandpipers to the trip list. Heading on to Ludham Airfield we found a mixed herd of Bewick's and Whooper Swans, passing a flock of 25 Egyptian Geese on the way. (There was some discussion of the exact composition of the swan flock, but of there were at least 6 adult Whoopers among the 46 birds). We took the roundabout route to Stubbs Mill, to see if any Cranes were visible in the fields surrounding Hickling Broad but apart from completing our set of swans with a small herd of Mute Swans and finding a huge flock of feeding Golden Plover, we drew a blank. A Crane had just disappeared from sight when we arrived at the viewing platform, but there were plenty of Marsh Harriers kept our interest up as we waited for the bird to do more than bugle from behind a screen of reeds. Mr Potter spotted a cracking male Hen Harrier, a Kingfisher shot by in front of the viewing platform and 2 Merlins perched up in front of the harrier roosting area. Finally two juvenile Cranes appeared, indulging in rudimentary display, dancing and throwing clumps of grass before heading out of view. Three adult Cranes flew over before we left, and we had good views of Venus and Mercury as we headed back to the car park on a beautiful winter evening.

Jan 18th. We started Sunday morning with a Blackcap in full song in the bushes next to our hotel in Acle. Halvergate Marshes were fairly misty, but we were able to pick up a possible Rough-legged Buzzard upon our arrival. Visibility varied but viewing from the bridge over the railway line finally gave us good enough views to confirm the i.d. We had no luck finding the reported Twite flock at Salthouse (only a flock of 40 Linnet) and Cley seemed very quiet, so we headed on to Lady Anne's Drive. 59 White-fronted Geese were visible from the Jordan hide, feeding in two groups close to the edge of the marsh; both parties became alert when a Barn Owl appeared giving good, if mainly back-lit views, before a spectacular arrival of wave upon wave of Pinkfeet dropping into the marsh all around the 180 degree view from the hide. As we left Riggers was the only one to get a good view of a Firecrest in a large mixed flock of 3 Treecreepers, Blue, Great Coal and Long-tailed Tits and the largest number of Goldcrests most of us could remember seeing outside of an autumn "fall". We moved to a favourite viewpoint further west with views towards Burnham Dunes, where we had a good view of a Rough-legged Buzzard trying to steal prey from a Barn Owl. Several Marsh Harriers, a Merlin, a Sparrowhawk and at least 1 Common Buzzard were also in this area. Matt Potter headed off home to Aberystwyth and we set off back to Acle, seeing another Barn Owl near Fakenham.

Jan 19th. The Blackcap was singing from the bushes again this morning as we set off. "Gandalf" Rayner's weather spells were more effective this morning and visibility at Halvergate Marshes was much better. The Rough-legged Buzzard was in almost exactly the same area when we arrived, before going to perch in its' favourite tree. It hunted low along one of the fences before heading further out onto the marshes, hunting and hovering regularly in silhouette as the sun rose. Just as we began to lose the bird against the light it conveniently flew west across the road, giving good views of wing and tail patterns, then even better ones as it flew further away and hovered almost directly tail on to us. From here we headed back to a very frosty Roydon Common. It looked as if it was going to be another fruitless search for us but as we were heading back to the car park Karen looked back and spotted something perched near to what we'd been told was the bird's favourite tree. Scope views confirmed the i.d. (sorry Matt) so we went back for a slightly closer view, before heading home via Pugney's Country Park at the end of a good weekend.

A smashing weekend which took in Cley, Titchwell, Holkham pines, and Holme.

Highlights were a Turtle Dove at Holme this morning along with a Cuckoo.Yesterday, Titchwell graced me with a Spoonbill, Cetti's Warbler (and yes I had great views), Marsh Harriers, Little and Common Terns, Grey Plover, single Turnstone, Red Crested Pochard, Grasshopper Warbler and more Cuckoos.Nothing out of the ordinary at Cley, but the beach held 5 Little Terns. I missed a Curlew Sandpiper that was reported earlier.

May 16th:After a profitable morning in Lincolnshire Riggers, Karen F and I headed down to Weeting to meet up with Mike Ausberger, by way of Narborough Nature Reserve. Plenty of common woodland birds here, together with yet more Cuckoos, but the highlight of this reserve is chiefly its' lepidoptera. Among 8 species of butterfly and 6 of moth we had Dingy & Grizzled Skippers, Mother Shipton, 2 forms of Latticed Heath, Small Yellow Underwing and the similar micro moth Pyraustra aurata. Also a Common Lizard confident enough of its' camoflage to remain still for long enough for mr Rigby to take its' photo

The Spotted Flycatchers at Weeting proved more elusive than the Stone Curlew on this visit, with at least 6 of the latter present around the reserve. Also a pair of Turtle Doves and Tree Pipit in the area.

May 17th:Apart from a stubbornly invisible Garden Warbler, Roydon Common was unusually quiet, so we headed up to the north coast. A Red Kite being mobbed by a Common Buzzard on the outskirts of Burnham Market was the highlight of the trip. Initially, only a single Corn Bunting was at Chosely Drying Barns, but, following local advice when we returned in the late afternoon there were a couple more, several Yellowhammers, 2 Yellow Wagtails and almost a full set of UK Columbiformes, with 3 Wood Pigeons, 9 Stock Doves, 1 Collared Dove and 1 Turtle Dove all perched along the same telegraph wire. No sign of the Dotterel at the concrete pads but 3 male and 1 female Wheatear here. In between, we visited Titchwell and added Red-crested Pochard, Bearded Tit, Cetti's Warbler and the elusive Golden Oriole to our trip list, among others. Visits to Holme and Thornham Harbour added Greenshank, Brent and Egyptian Goose, while Hunstanton was as usual excellent for fly-past Fulmars. We finished the evening with cracking views of Nightjar, several roding Woodcock and Round-leaved Sundew at a regular North Norfolk site.

May 18th.Spent the morning and early afternoon in the Minsmere area (see that thread) then headed up to Horsey for the 2 Dotterel in the ploughed (and sprouting!) field between The Nelson's Head and Horsey Gap. After a pleasant pub dinner had a walk around Hickling Broad NWT reserve (great view of Chinese Water Deer and yet more Cuckoos)and headed down to Stubbs Mill where 3 Common Cranes were visible. Only Riggers was lucky enough to spot a Barn Owl as we headed home, but we all saw the Tawny Owl as it flew across in front of the car.

May 19th. Our planned retun home via North Cave fell foul of "an incident" on the A11, so we stopped off at Lakenheath instead, but only managed to add Kingfisher, Southern Hawker and Common Blue Damselfly to our trip list. Oh and a swarm of Honey Bees on the edge of Third Plantation. Our Total of 126 birds seen and 5 heard is one of our better ones in recent years

A few of my ''Bits and Bobs'' during last week's holiday in North Norfolk.

Sunday 27/4...... 3 Red Kite up, near Little Walsingham. ...... At least 4 coveys of Red-Legged Partridge seen by the roadside while driving ( Walsingham area)Wednesday 30/4.....Spoonbill stood, just out on the mudflats, at Snettisham RSPB .....Barn Owl hunting, mid morning, near the A149 at Burnham Overy Staithe ......A full on view of a Fox, as it paused in the grass verge of this same road at Thornham.